New Legacy Business Park houses Yarder Manufacturing
15-01-2026Yarder Manufacturing president Jeff Conlan and Vice President Matt Yarder are joined by Mosser Construction President Brian Geffe inside the new 100,000-square-foot Yarder Manufacturing facility in the Monclova-Maumee-Toledo Joint Economic Development Zone (MMT JEDZ). Construction is expected to be complete this summer. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
With the 100,000-square-foot Yarder Manufacturing headquarters now under roof and easily visible from I-475, Vice President Matt Yarder is getting more questions about his family’s business – and the newly-created Legacy Business Park where it’s located.
“I get calls from people who put the dots together, knowing we were planning to build in Monclova Township and then seeing it from the highway,” he said. “We’re going from a little, unassuming family business in a neighborhood in Toledo to having this kind of visibility.”
When Yarder and resident Jeff Conlan began looking at options for expansion of the sheet metal parts and product manufacturing business, they figured they would just buy a piece of land and build. In the process of looking for the right property with available utilities, Yarder teamed up with Mosser Construction to create a new business park on 70 acres in the Monclova-Maumee-Toledo Joint Economic Development Zone (MMT JEDZ)
.
YMG, as their partnership is known, purchased what is now Legacy Business Park and secured funding from Monclova Township, Lucas County and the state to fund the 1,200-foot extension of Riverfort Drive to access not only Yarder’s property but the north side of three other 20-acre properties and an 8-acre parcel to the west of Yarder Manufacturing.
Legacy Business Park in the Monclova-Maumee-Toledo Joint Economic Development Zone just west of I-475 has space for additional companies to locate. Yarder Manufacturing teamed up with Mosser Construction to install a 1,200-foot extension of Riverfort Drive to allow access to the interior of the property. (Courtesy image)
“This was an opportunity to help a client like the Yarders find their next home,” said Mosser Construction president Brian Geffe. “When we look at available green sites available in Lucas County, there’s only a handful of them. This has great access to the interstate with the new US 20A interchange, and Monclova Township is business friendly. Once this starts to activate, I think we’ll see a lot of opportunities.”
The YMG team is already in discussions with another family-owned business eyeing one parcel and, now that Yarder’s construction is underway, are receiving inquiries about other areas. Yarder’s project is utilizing just half of the land while reserving the other half for future generations to expand in place, Matt said.
“We’ve been in our current facility since the mid-1940s, and it’s served us well for generations, but this facility will showcase our capabilities to the level of customers that we deal with. We have some global customers who visit our shop right now, and they’re impressed with what we’ve been able to do with our current space,” Yarder said.
The current facility doesn’t have shipping or receiving docks, so employees load and unload materials in the parking lot. The production takes place in five separate buildings. And their conference room is a closet-sized space under a stairwell, jokes Conlan.
The new building will feature 88,000-square feet of open production area for lasers and brake presses, and an enclosed area for grinding. Conlan expects that having all production under one roof will enhance the work flow.
“Right now we have stuff crammed everywhere. It will be nice to spread out in one building where everything flows the proper way,” Conlan said.
Wearing hard hats and safety vests, Yarder, Conlan and Geffe were joined by Mosser project manager Tom Koepfler and supervisor Nick Fisher last month for a tour of the facility, which includes a reception area, glass-fronted offices and a large, sunlit open area for employees in sales and purchasing to view the outdoors from three sides.
“Our employees have been involved in the design from the get-go,” Yarder said.
Pointing to the windows facing the receiving docks that allow easy viewing of trucks coming in, Yarder explains that this was just one of several ideas shared during every phase of the design process.
On the east side of the administration building is a large breakroom that can be used to hold trainings and employee gatherings – a big step up from holding meetings in the cramped production area, Conlan said.
“It’s going to be a complete upgrade to our culture: the way that we recruit, the way we train, the way we engage with our staff. This whole project, we have had our culture in mind from Day 1. We’re family-owned and family-oriented in everything we do. We have a lot of limitations on our current site. This will allow us to expand on our culture.”
That culture also includes some downtime, Yarder said, noting that the No. 1 question he gets from employees is whether the detention pond out front will be stocked with fish. Yes, it will.
Mosser Construction employees (from left) Grady Welker, PJ Szakovits and Samantha Teigland look out the windows from the front offices to the receiving dock at the new Yarder Manufacturing facility. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
If construction goes as planned and the electric is hooked up in time, Conlan expects that the transfer of machinery from the Toledo location to the new location will begin in June. Several area companies specialize in moving large equipment, including one laser that will require seven semis to move.
